Drew Lock will get a chance to build on first start of 2021
Denver Broncos quarterback Drew Lock had one of the better games of his pro career in a disappointing loss to the Raiders, and he’ll get another shot.
Drew Lock made his first start of the 2021 season on Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders, and he’ll get a chance to build on some pretty good work from an individual play standpoint.
The Broncos are going to continue to play things safe (rightfully so) with Teddy Bridgewater’s latest concussion. Bridgewater remains in the league’s concussion protocol and the Broncos should not be in any hurry to get him back out on the field.
As a matter of fact, with the playoffs almost out of reach, it makes almost no sense for Vic Fangio to trot Bridgewater out there for what could potentially be a meaningless regular season finale next Sunday.
Drew Lock getting another start on Sunday vs. Chargers
Although the Broncos‘ offense only scored 10 points against the Las Vegas Raiders in a must-win game, Drew Lock made some throws that were pretty outstanding but will go down in the stat books as incompletions.
Notably, he made passes to Courtland Sutton, Jerry Jeudy, and Albert Okwuegbunam that could have all been game-changing plays had the receivers been able to come down with the ball.
Not only that, but the running game and offensive line absolutely did nothing to help the quarterback out as the offense struggled once again.
Lock’s performance on Sunday against the Raiders in Paradise was vastly different than the one we saw a season ago in which he threw four interceptions and fumbled.
Turnovers have plagued Lock, but there’s no question about the fact that the passing game is significantly different when he’s on the field versus when Teddy Bridgewater is on it. Although the threat of the turnover consistently has you holding your breath, watching the Broncos’ passing attack with Lock as opposed to Bridgewater is sort of like the difference between wearing corrective lenses or not.
Without the corrective lenses, you can basically see what’s directly in front of your face. With them, however, you’ve got 20/20 vision.
That might seem like a dramatic example, but it’s not a coincidence that the first start Drew Lock made in the 2021 season included one of the only 40-yard plays from Jerry Jeudy we’ve seen all year.
Was Lock flawless against the Raiders? Absolutely not. With that being said, you know Lock played a pretty good game when Pro Football Focus, which has historically been brutally hard on Lock, has this to say about the game he played:
https://twitter.com/PFF_Broncos/status/1475911932070666242
At the very least, it’s something to build on for Lock, whose future beyond these next two games is very much in question.
Considering he’s still under contract for 2022, he should undoubtedly be a player the Broncos are looking to bring back as a primary backup option again.
Although most people believe the Broncos are going to go big for a quarterback in the 2022 offseason, and they should, there exists a slight chance that the team could wind up with Drew Lock and a rookie in 2022.
In fact, it may be more than just a slight chance.
A lot will depend on who the Broncos’ head coach is for 2022. As of right now, it doesn’t appear likely to be Vic Fangio, but we’ll see.
For the time being, Drew Lock has a chance to build on some of the good things he did against the Raiders. Hopefully against the Chargers, he’ll be able to maintain his efficiency in terms of ball control and the receivers will be able to catch the passes he puts on them.